RALEIGH, North Carolina, Dec. 24 -- The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina issued the following news release on Dec. 23, 2024: Today, Governor Roy Cooper commuted the sentences of six people and granted pardons to nine others. In doing so, he is providing people the opportunity to rejoin their communities and rebuild their lives. The recommendations for clemency come from the Juvenile Sentencing Review Board, which considers the cases of people convicted as youths. "Today's anno  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 -- The U.S. Department of Defense issued the following news: The Medal of Honor was created during the Civil War, a conflict that divided the nation and led to the distribution of 1,525 of the new medals to service members for their heroism. Nine of those medals were bestowed upon some of the gunship USS Agawam's crew members, whose brave actions kickstarted the First Battle of Fort Fisher, in North Carolina. For most of the Civil War, Fort Fisher saw very little combat, b  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 -- The U.S. Department of Transportation issued the following news release: The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced the winners of the Modernizing National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) challenge, which rewarded the use of accessible and interactive innovations to make the NEPA review process easier to navigate. Winning projects are aimed at incentivizing collaborative, real-time reviews to save time and improve the quality of NEPA documents. There were nine re  more

RALEIGH, North Carolina, Dec. 24 -- The North Carolina Department of Commerce issued the following news release on Dec. 23, 2024: A partnership in the Piedmont Triad is the winner of a competitive grant totaling $125,000 to support an innovative effort addressing reentry workforce challenges, Governor Roy Cooper announced today. The grant recipient, Piedmont Triad Regional Workforce Development Board's Reentry Empowerment and Workforce Integration (REWI) Initiative, seeks to strengthen the reg  more

RALEIGH, North Carolina, Dec. 24 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina issued the following news release: Talvin Lamar Brandon, 29, was sentenced to 96 months in prison for armed drug trafficking after hitting an officer's patrol car as he was fleeing from a traffic stop. On September 3, 2024, Brandon pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, and possession with the intent to distribute 500  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 -- The U.S. Navy's U.S. Fleet Forces Command issued the following news: CHERRY POINT, N.C. - Guardian, the Navy's new UAS detect-and-avoidance system, will make unmanned training safer and more efficient at its first-ever operational squadron, Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Training Squadron (VMUT) 2, after its August installation at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. Engineers from the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division delivered Guardian to th  more

OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, Dec. 23 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: Back in the early days of his college career, Chad Parish realized his curiosity and interests were drawing him to the type of work he performs today in the Low Activation Materials Development and Analysis, or LAMDA, laboratory at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Using microscopy and microstructural characterization, he reveals the intricate  more